Matt Duss is executive vice-president at the Center for International Policy. He was foreign policy adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., from 2017-2022.
The most important takeaway from President Biden’s speech Friday, which laid out a plan for a cease-fire and the release of prisoners and hostages in Israel’s nearly eight-month-long war on Gaza, is not that there is a plan on the table. Different versions of a deal have been on the table for months now, and Israel and Hamas have, at various times, both balked. The difference now is that Biden himself has made the details of this deal public to pressure both sides to accept.
Two far-right members of the coalition, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, have said that they would bolt the government if Netanyahu agreed to a cease-fire before total eradication of Hamas. In response, Netanyahu is doing what he always does when faced with a tough choice: playing for time. By offering negative comments to the media, he is clearly trying to elicit a rejection from Hamas.
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